Martinez City Manager Phil Vince has been on the job for more than three years and the council has never formally reviewed his performance.

It’s an unusual situation in Contra Costa County, where cities tend to evaluate the city manager’s performance every year. In fact, Vince’s contract — which expires in June — includes a provision requiring an annual review.

“Any kind of review is not only to review performance but also for the council to get a feel for are we attaining the goals we set out, to help the council and also to help Phil,” Mayor Rob Schroder said. “Unfortunately, we haven’t done that.”

The dust-up over what appeared to be a routine motion to hire a consultant to conduct the performance review exposed disagreement over how the council should assess Vince’s track record in Martinez.

Schroder proposed spending up to $7,000 for a consultant to conduct a “360-degree” evaluation of Vince by interviewing council members and department leaders. Councilwoman Lara DeLaney balked at the cost, calling it a “terrible waste of the city’s resources.”

“What I objected to was not only what I thought was the exorbitant cost of the contract but just the concept of having to pay an outsider to perform a function that I think we’re very capable of performing,” DeLaney said Friday.

Although Councilman Mark Ross said he had suggested hiring a consultant, he too thought the cost was a bit steep. Their reluctance seemed to flummox Schroder, who delayed a decision on a consultant.

“There’s been discussion that his performance needs to be reviewed and you can extend it that not everybody’s 100 percent happy,” Ross said.

Vince, who declined to comment for this story, came from Moraga to Martinez in 2008 with a reputation for fostering economic development. Shortly after his hiring, Vince said his five-year plan included creating vitality downtown, improving the parks, jump-starting the economy and making the marina more of a regional draw.

But the recession hit, and sales and property tax revenue fell. Plans to turn a city-owned building downtown into a white-tablecloth restaurant stalled. Efforts to revamp the marina were hampered by a lack of funding and complex negotiations with two state agencies. Then, in a crushing blow, the state eliminated redevelopment, which city leaders had touted as a way to pay for physical improvements to make downtown more attractive to businesses.

Still, council members point out that through Vince’s stewardship Martinez has mostly avoided the layoffs and service cuts that have plagued neighboring cities. And some things, they add, like the economy and action at the state level, are beyond Vince’s control.

“Of the things that we can control in house, Phil has mostly done a fine job. Is everybody happy with everything? No. But we can go to any city and find that,” said Ross.

Schroder and Councilman Mike Menesini expressed strong support for Vince.

“I personally think Phil is doing a fantastic job. Sure, he’s hindered by the economic constraints and a bare-bones staff, but if you look downtown, things are happening,” said Schroder, pointing to new eateries, a brew pub and other successes.

Still, Schroder acknowledged that with just eight months left on his contract, common courtesy requires that the council let Vince know pretty soon whether they intend to retain him.

Violent police encounters in California last year led to the deaths of 157 people and six officers, the state attorney general’s office said Thursday in a report that provides the first statewide tally on police use-of-force incidents.

At 6:03 p.m. Wednesday, police responded to reports of the robbery at the facility, 2301 Bancroft way, and learned that a man who snuck into the facility and began prowling through the building, taking cell phones and wallets from victims.

Investigators’ efforts to solve the case led to the arrests of Pablo Mendoza, 25, of Hayward, Brandon Follings, 26, of Oakland and Valeria Boden, 26, of Alameda, the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday.